Trilegal has hired Richa Choudhary, who has recently left AZB & Partners in Pune, as its 58th partner.
Choudhary specialises in debt and equity capital markets, as well as regulatory and securities laws.
According to Trilegal’s release, capital markets head Bhakta Patnaik commented: “Richa, with her positive attitude, entrepreneurship and technical abilities will add tremendous value not just to our capital markets practice but also the Trilegal brand.”
Corporate co-head Harsh Pais added: “Our capital markets practice has a strong pipeline of mandates and Richa adds excellent issuer-side capabilities for both debt and equity.”
Competition head Nisha Kaur Uberoi added: “Richa is an excellent lawyer and a welcome addition to our partnership. We look forward to her further enhancing our strong capital markets and securities regulatory practice.
Comments
Why is Nisha commenting on this move?
Is trilegal opening an office in Pune?
Which was the last issuer side mandate Richa worked on? (If any)
2. Work from home in the long run maybe? Also depends if associates are moving with her. Don't see the need for a physical office in Pune in the immediate future. Maybe even a small representative office a la NDA from her house?
3. Relevance? If anything, the question should be which banker side mandate she worked on.
I'm sure the Trilegal partnership has evaluated the pros and cons of adding another equity partner to their capital markets practice. Besides, if it doesn't work out, I'm sure we'll get some other news in a few months or years.
AZB Partner has a certain standard and name attached to that tag. Trilegal (and specifically capital markets) is not in that league.
Trilegal, JSA and other 'democratic' set ups, are lower in the pecking order. Tier 2 or Tier 3, depending on which ranking you follow. Chambers is usually a reliable guide.
The whole idea to hire a new partner is to expand the practice and and go up the league tables, and she is perfect for that. A lot of potential.
Business expansion, verdict reserved till a few quarters have passed. If this was so easy, there are a lot of capital markets partners in tier-1 firms who would have made the jump.
This is not a hire of a senior partner.
Tier 1 (subject to which publication you're referring), will be decided on objective (ish) parameters. They're not pedigreed capital markets lawyers, but hard to ignore money in the bank (even if the product is middling).
What message does it give to the present counsels at Trilegal?
Partner) headed ?
Another luthra ex caps marks partner Geeta has joined back luthra, but in TMT practice. So do we assume there is no caps marks left at lnl ?
They don't have a good internal promotion system. Add to this the fact that the firm has no meaningful rainmaker - so you can take limited risk to incubate practices - not a lot of options here again for Trilegal. This is not an AZB or SAM - there is no big boss who will take care of you or make long term bets.
Becoming a partner is not a god given right - that said, greater commitment to internal promotions may benefit the firm in the long run (and will probably be cheaper). But this is probably better for the profit pool from a senior partner/founder perspective and hey they call the shots here. Keep in mind - when you onboard a partner in a lockstep (if Trilegal is still one), you are giving away a slice of future equity.
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What is a managed lockstep? Well it is a way of keeping the laggards in the system from drawing more money from the profit pool. Therefore, if you do well, you move up the lockstep but if you don't then you stay where you are - or worse, you could be downgraded on the lockstep. This is like the US eat what you kill model, except that your upside is capped. To that extent you are right about the senior partners benefiting from making these calls.
To get back to the main issue of Trilegal struggling with internal promotions. Well that is where the management team is being short sighted I think. If the perception is built that Trilegal is only a good place to be as a partner, then getting junior talent will only get more difficult with time. This will put more pressure on partners either due to difficulty in getting people or worse, the talent pool degenerating with below par juniors.
I am not paid anymore than the other firms. The firm is hardly a quality leader so I don't get the most exposure. Why would I want this hassle when I can basically sail to partnership at a SAM or CAM and then build a practice. At least I know that is what is expected. As a counsel at Trilegal you are not supposed to build a practice but then miraculously must have a book as a partner. And to add to that - its not like a partner at Trilegal is somehow more empowered/has better practice building opportunities than the other large firms.
To be fair, the fact that we are even having this discussion means that Trilegal has achieved a lot in terms of market standing.
Freshers/ Associates - How much salary does one get in XYZ?
Freshers/ Associates - What are Tier-I salaries? / Wow people from my law school/ institute in Jhumri Telaiya are making partners in Tier Is .
JSA (base+bill share assuming they work with a profitable team)- same as Trilegal..in some cases slightly more. Super performer bonus capped at 6 lacs. If you are in a team that hasn't met their targets- your CTC may be as less as 20.
Amarchand(s)-Base- little low. Bonus may be close to 5.
Khaitan - 2 lac. Bonus close to 8-10.
L&L- 1.2-1.4. Bonus 1.5- 2
SA salaries- Any insights?